A Play with Shadows

After a light frost this morning we got a lovely sunny day. I hadn't been walking into the city for about two weeks and I found a lot of changes. A lot more buildings seem to be coming down. The re-strapping of my foot really helped my leg as it didn't hurt at all!

When I walked though New Regent St last Wednesday week after having a lovely meal in the city I noticed the start of the shadow-catcher going up and wondered what is it was going to be, then I saw the article in the paper this morning.

I stopped off for a wonderful coffee in New regent Street on my way home after walking around the city and I saw Jeremy Sauzier working on one of his shadow-catchers. We had a wonderful talk and he said he was really enjoying working on them. Jeremy told me that he really enjoys people stopping and having a chat.

The article from the Press Newspaper today:

A shadow-catcher is bringing New Regent St's boarded-up shop frontages to life.
By night, St Albans artist Jeremy Sauzier captures the outline of people's shadows with a tripod, a light and a chalk pen. By day, he fills them in with shades of blue.

Sauzier, 38, expects his "transitional" project Frieze: Stand in the Sun to continue through to the end of July.

"It's sort of a play on words between literally standing still and a frieze," he said.

"It will take me a wee while. I want to get it looking really finished and give it all two coats."

The five boarded-up units he is using as a canvas are owned by the same Christchurch family. Sauzier started "collecting" and painting shadows at art school in 2005.

"Everyone has got a shadow. I like that," he said.

In New Regent St, he has painted shadows of friends, shop owners, tourists and strangers who were drawn into the project while walking past.

Sauzier also features in the artwork; a friend collected his shadow while he was playing with his daughter.

"[Indigo] just started climbing up on me. We were laughing and my friend just went for it," he said.

There's a cafe scene by Coffee Lovers, featuring French tourists, a father and son, and a Christchurch film-maker.

"The tram drivers are not in there yet."

The boarded-up frontages have previously prompted complaints from New Regent St retailers who considered them unsightly. The fate of the buildings is still unclear, but Sauzier's artwork will brighten them up in the meantime.

He was grateful for the New Regent St site because he unsuccessfully approached several different building owners around the central city before securing it.

"The big thing for me is to have a safe place to do it.

"I'm really enjoying working down here."
For more info on this article.